Does look like a fun movie, although im more interested in Prometheus than both Avengers and Batman put together.

Crossovers are fine, as long as they are not dumb. The idea of crossing a criminal from one movie with a hero from another movie wouldnt work. If you saw that criminal beaten once already why would you want to watch him get his ass handed to him again?

could be interesting to see more cross over later, though, given, ya know, Hollywood ... i expect more trash then gems for a good long time. probably be a good idea to just think of the Avengers as the exception not the rule if movies do start having continuity

I wonder if there ever WILL be a Hulk 2 movie... I mean, apparently, Thor and Captain America are getting a sequel, and Iron Man 3's on it's way, but not the Hulk? Well, it wasn't the BIGGEST box office success, but who knows, maybe The Avengers will change THAT as well...

Interesting theory, but I don't think we'll see Hollywood latch onto it right away outside of "comic book movies", since as was established is essentially where the idea is originating from.

My guess is that the most immediate result this will have is Warner Brothers and DC looking at the Avengers and going "We should really consider trying to do that."

That is, if they haven't already, not too much is known about it, perhaps Man Of Steel may attempt some sort of DC Movie-Verse continuity. After Green Lantern it seems likely they'd try using their more globally famous characters for this sort of undertaking rather than someone who wasn't as well known. If nothing else, it might at least convince DC to take another crack at a superhero movie not starring Bats or Supes... y'know after they get the reboots for those two out of the way first.

MB202:I wonder if there ever WILL be a Hulk 2 movie... I mean, apparently, Thor and Captain America are getting a sequel, and Iron Man 3's on it's way, but not the Hulk? Well, it wasn't the BIGGEST box office success, but who knows, maybe The Avengers will change THAT as well...

Considering they tried two Hulk movies so close together I don't doubt we'll see a sequel if the Avengers does well.

Interesting ideas there. As for Moses and the ark, my reason for not being too excited is that I've never been a big fan of the Indiana Jones movies. You can't blame me, given that I was born in the late eighties and my dad wouldn't let me watch Temple of Doom (for good reason from what little I know of it). I was much more interested in Star Wars, given that the special edition came out when I was growing up.

The closest I've come to being an Indiana Jones fan is that I've created a Scoundrel in TOR who I roleplay as having a strong interest in Archaeology.

Nice, but TV has already been doing their versions of inter-universe cross-overs and spin-offs.

One aspect television-wise that I think is interesting -- how would connecting universes affect a series that's on it's way to cancellation? Example - I don't regularly watch Syfy shows, but I'm aware that Eureka and Warehouse 13 had cross-overs and basically established themselves as sharing the same universe. Then they went a step further and subtly introduced a character from Warehouse in the newer show Alphas, connecting all three shows. Right now, Eureka is slated for cancellation while the others have been renewed. Would it make sense to just throw out that connection and content? Hell, two characters apparently fell in love in one cross-over; is that getting glossed over? More importantly, with shows like Family Guy and Futurama being brought back by fan demand, could featuring a recurring character from a canceled series have the same outcome?

I really okay with Mark Wahlberg cop from the Departed doing a cop movie with the dude from The Town, Wahlberg was one of the best parts of The Departed until he vanished for the final act only to wrap things up.

I guess it isn't common knowledge enough, but Tarantino has had a shared continuity in every film he's written. There's the obvious example of the Vega brothers, but also more obscure ones like the fact that Eli Roth's character in Basterds (Donowitz) is supposed to be the ancestor to the film producer in True Romance. Also in Out of Sight, Michael Keaton played the same character that he played in Jackie Brown, but that was since they were from same series of books.

But on topic, if everyone tried to create stories around tangentially related characters (whether they're related by location like your Wahlberg/Affleck team-up, or by any other means) it seems like it could be a slippery slope towards professional fan-fiction. A small number of examples would be awesome, but too many would leave those shining examples (like the Avengers) no longer looking as special. The last thing I expect Hollywood to do is to exercise some self control.

Oh! Other thought -- since we've become a culture of reboots and remakes, could an "Infinite Crisis", multi-universe thing happen where two versions of the same character meet? Like Eric Bana and Mark Ruffalo as dueling Hulks?

DemBones:I guess it isn't common knowledge enough, but Tarantino has had a shared continuity in every film he's written. There's the obvious example of the Vega brothers, but also more obscure ones like the fact that Eli Roth's character in Basterds (Donowitz) is supposed to be the ancestor to the film producer in True Romance. Also in Out of Sight, Michael Keaton played the same character that he played in Jackie Brown, but that was since they were from same series of books.

Weird how I didn't realize that considering I saw Deathproof the other day and they mentioned "Big Kahuna Burger." Don't forget Kevin Smith and "Moobie."

Tell me you remember, and maybe tried to follow, the whole X-Cutioner's Song storyline between X-Men, X-Force, X-Factor, and so on. Then tell me you really believe inter-film continuity won't be used primarily as a sales tactic to make sure everyone sees all the movies in a "set."

I'm excited about this, and I agree that it'll probably be the next big thing, but I dread its inevitable abuse. (See also: trilogies, prequels, gritty reboots...)

I get to see it Thursday! Thank you advance screenings. Pity I have to see it 3D though.

DemBones:But on topic, if everyone tried to create stories around tangentially related characters (whether they're related by location like your Wahlberg/Affleck team-up, or by any other means) it seems like it could be a slippery slope towards professional fan-fiction. A small number of examples would be awesome, but too many would leave those shining examples (like the Avengers) no longer looking as special. The last thing I expect Hollywood to do is to exercise some self control.

This would be my only worry as well as possible shoe-horning characters in if one of the characters got popular so he ends up having to be in every film set in that city no matter what. And why is Spielburg remaking the Ten Commandments when his company already did with Prince of Egypt (and it was AWESOME!!)?

No, this won't "change the industry". Cross-overs have been regulated to the comic world (and Stephen King) for good reason; mainly the reason you yourself stated. Cross-overs often make the visiting character feel watered down and stale, because there's just not enough time to expound on both their characters. Now, in the Netflix world where a bevy of movies is at people's finger tips, enjoyment of these types of movies still rest on several factors.

First and foremost is the amount of free time needed to watch all the movies necessary. They may be available, but that doesn't mean everyone's going to have time to watch them all to get the full enjoyment. Second, even cross-overs in comics feel like bad fan-fic ("Guys, who would win in a fight? Hulk or Thor?"). They just feel like ridiculous tie-ins for directors/writers to shoe-horn in free advertisement for other franchises, and I really don't wanna see Ryan Reynolds swoop in to save Batman from Bane.

Finally, and most importantly, it tends to take away from the gravity of future situations when several franchises that consist of "the world's gonna end, and only this guy can save it" come together like this. Now there's no sense of danger because if, say, Captain America looks like he's going to fail in CA 2, then so what? Call up Thor, or Iron Man, or any of these other apparently capable people. It diminishes the Hero's Journey story type because now there's not just one Hero the people can call on, there's many. And, like Bob said, "How's Stark gonna act now that he hung out with a living god?" His character's gonna regress because there's literally nothing that could be as threatening or interesting.

TL;DR Avengers won't change the game for the film industry. In fact, I'm betting the Marvel movies decline in sales (and probably quality) after the Avengers.

Continuity works better for well stablished characters. How long have these comic book guys been around? More than 20 years!! Then again continuity also means less creativity, because well stablished personas have to follow their traits. Remember: "COMICS ARE WEIRD". Bring that to movies will just alianate more fans.